MORNING TRAVEL

 

Rising early

to begin the journey;

not a sound

from the chickens next door.

 

Beneath the lamp,

I part from the innkeeper;

on the road, my skinny horse

moves through the dark.

 

Slipping on stones

newly frosted,

threading through woods,

we scare up birds roosting.

 

After a bell tolls

far in the mountains,

the colors of daybreak

gradually clear.

 

-Chia Tao, The Clouds Should Know Me By Now

Practice Meetings

Tuesday Mar 26, 8:30am

Friday Mar 29, 7:00pm

This Week’s Reading

Thich Nhat Hanh, Old Path White Clouds, Chapter 36, “Lotus Vow”.

This Week’s Koan

Blue Cliff Record #67

“Fu Daishi Concludes His Lecture on the Sutra”

Emperor Liang Wu requested Mahasattva Fu to expound the Diamond Sutra. The Mahasattva then from the high seat, lifted and brought the lectern table down once, and then came down from the seat. Emperor Wu was dumbfounded.

The Official of the Records asked, “Does Your Highness understand yet?”

The Emperor said, “I don’t understand.”

The Official of the Records said, “The Mahasattva has finished expounding the sutra.”